The WVU Clay Club’s winter pottery sale will take place Dec. 12 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Douglas O. Blaney Lobby of the WVU Canady Creative Center.
Shoppers can peruse handmade ceramics, including mugs, vases, jewelry and figurines, for unique gifts for loved ones ahead of the holidays or discover their new favorite mug.
Prior to 2025, the semi-annual sale was hosted by the WVU School of Art and Design’s Ceramics Production students and featured mostly bulk-run utilitarian ceramics. Under the Clay Club, the sale features the students’ unique, personal works.
“Each semester, students work hard trying to hone and gain the skills to voice their personal artwork along with gaining the experience of how to price, talk about and sell their art,” said Robert Moore, Associate Professor of Art and Head of Ceramics.
Senior Shannon Griffith, who will graduate this month with her BFA in Art and Design with an emphasis in Ceramics, thinks having WVU Clay Club take over the sale has been a great change.
“A lot of people have been really excited for this upcoming sale, because it's more student-centered. So instead of the production work, which is replications of the same work made from a mold, it's student work. It's all unique and it's made by an individual,” Griffith said.
Proceeds from the sale benefit WVU Clay Club members and ceramics students, helping to pay for club activities, visiting artists, attendance to the annual National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) conference and even the Ceramics in China Study Abroad program.
“This is like an opportunity for people to find special things that are unique and that they gravitate towards that they won't be able to get at a store. This is made by somebody, and it has a little bit extra magic to it.” Jesse Baggett
NCECA is an international membership organization centered around ceramics. At its yearly conference, there are exhibitions, artist demonstrations, new technology displays, school recruiting booths and ceramic supplies and vendors. (And, Griffith added, lots of cool free stuff.)
The NCECA conference is in a different city each year, and it takes over the entire town for its duration.
“They have a whole bunch of art shows throughout the city. You get to see all your heroes, all their artwork, in person,” Griffith said, who went to the conference in Richmond, Virginia, two years ago.
Jesse Baggett, a third-year graduate student getting her MFA in Ceramics, has been to about a half dozen NCECA conferences over the years. Each one, she said, is like a family reunion.
“You see all these people that you love, and then you go and you see all this art that's amazing.”
Both Baggett and Griffith have done the Ceramics Study Abroad program to Jingdezhen, China, with Moore and other ceramics students.
“The WVU Ceramics Program has a long-standing relationship with the renowned Jingdezhen Ceramic University,” said Moore. “China’s history in the ceramic art is strong and deep. For thousands of years, Chinese artisans have developed and mastered techniques and artistry that has set the standard of excellence in ceramics throughout the world. High-fired porcelains, underglaze and overglaze techniques, celadons, copper reds, temmoku, yaoware carving, ash glazes and tri-colored lead glazes are just a few of the contributions made by Chinese artisans over the centuries.”
During the month-long trip, Griffith said, they visited several cities but spent most of their time at JCU.
“We spent a lot of time working in a studio at Jingdezhen Ceramic University, making work and learning from masters,” she said. “It was a very immersive experience, getting to learn a lot about the history of Chinese ceramics and learning from people who are masters in their craft and visiting cultural sites and places that are still producing incredible ceramics today.”
Both Griffith and Baggett enjoyed the opportunity to work with pure porcelain—one of the most difficult clays to handle—and learn techniques like porcelain carving from the masters.
Baggett, who is working toward her thesis, was inspired by the Han Dynasty, Chinese architecture and the cobalt blue painting that is a hallmark of Chinese ceramics.
“For ceramics students, seeing a culture where they've been doing this for thousands of years, it opens your eyes up to what can be done and the possibilities for your artwork,” Baggett said.
Friday’s pottery sale is one of the ways students like Baggett and Griffith are able to afford to attend NCECA conferences and travel to Jingdezhen. Griffith will be selling her sculpted pendants and earrings. Baggett will have handmade figurines on sale, including a few reindeer for those who have the holidays in mind.
“There's going to be a lot of unique work, and it's all made by students,” Griffith said. “It's a great way to support students and support the things that we're going to be doing, like going on trips.”
“This is like an opportunity for people to find special things that are unique and that they gravitate towards that they won't be able to get at a store,” said Baggett. “This is made by somebody, and it has a little bit extra magic to it.”
This pottery sale is one day only: Friday, Dec. 12, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the WVU Canady Creative Arts Center Douglas O. Blaney Lobby.
The Clay Club is open to any WVU student, and its membership is comprised of a mix of ceramics majors and non-majors. The group sponsors activities like the Monongalia Empty Bowls Throw-A-Thon and a yearly collaboration with the Horticultural Club. Follow @wvuceramics to see activities and work produced by the WVU Clay Club and ceramics students.
Learn more about the WVU School of Art and Design at https://creativeartsandmedia.wvu.edu/school-of-art-and-design.